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Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Oh this cake is good, really, really, really good, chocolate caramel soaked cake, with caramel chocolate ganache and more of that glorious caramel drizzled on top, this cake is epic.

You will notice the recipe says nothing about drizzling caramel on top of the cake but I wasn't letting a drop go to waste and since I had already eaten a good 3 tablespoonfuls and added extra in between the layers, I decided a drizzle would be just perfect. This caramel is the best I have ever tasted, I was utterly floored by it's deliciousness.

I'm yet to find a recipe from the Baked boys that I'm not crazy for, this cake may sound over sweet but it is far from it, the dark chocolate, sweet and salty ratio is perfect and combines to create a delightfully adult sweet treat. It is not the simplest cake but nor the most difficult and looks mightily impressive once sliced. My ganache came out significantly darker than pictured, I'm assuming this is probably to do with the chocolate I used, which was of very high quality.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa, 1 1/4 cups hot water, and sour cream; set aside to cool, about 10 minutes.

3. In another large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening together until smooth and it appears to create strings inside the bowl, about 7 minutes. Add both sugars and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well incorporated. Add vanilla, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and mix again for 30 seconds. Add flour mixture alternating with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

5. Divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake until cake is just firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 18 to 24 minutes. Let cool completely.

For the Caramel:

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon fleur de sel

1/4 cup sour cream

Directions

1. Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the mixture reaches 350 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, mix together cream and salt. Bring cream to a boil and cook until salt has dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. When the caramel mixture has reached 350 degrees, remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Carefully add the hot cream to the caramel; stir to combine. Whisk in sour cream. Cool, and store in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

1. Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the mixture reaches 350 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.

2. In another small saucepan add cream and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. When the caramel mixture has reached 350 degrees, remove from heat and allow to rest for 1 minute. Add the hot cream to the caramel; stir to combine. Let cool 5 minutes. Place chocolate in the bowl of an electric mixer and pour caramel sauce over chocolate. Let sit 1 minute before stirring from the center until chocolate is melted.

4. Attach bowl to electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low until the bowl feels cool to the touch. Add butter and increase speed to medium-high until mixture is well combined, thickened, and slightly whipped, about 2 minutes.

To Assemble the Cake:

Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the first layer on the cake plate. Using about 1/4 cup of the caramel, spread a thin layer on the cake, allowing some of the caramel to soak into the cake. Follow the caramel layer with a layer of about 1 cup of the ganache icing. Place the second layer on top and repeat process with another layer of caramel followed by a layer of ganache icing. Place the remaining layer on top of the second layer bottom side up. Spread entire cake with remaining ganache icing. Sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

I wasn't entirely sure what to call this dessert, it is inspired by a Charlotte but I didn't make it in a ring and it uses a lighter whipped cream crème patisserie rather than the traditional fruit puree and custard as a filling.

This is the first time I have made Ladyfingers or Biscuits à la Cuiller and they were utterly divine, I used the recipe from the stunning Laduree recipe book but adapted it slightly. The original recipe calls for Potato Starch instead of Cornflour, unfortunately I can't find Potato Starch anywhere but I found many a recipe that uses Cornflour instead and I was really happy with the results.

I piped my ladyfinger batter into two 5 inch rounds as well as normal ladyfingers, I could have easily piped three rounds as I had plenty of ladyfingers left over after putting the cake together, (not that I'm complaining).

The two rounds were sandwiched together with whipped cream crème patisserie, ladyfingers fixed around the outside and I added another layer of whipped cream crème patisserie to the top before decorating with strawberries and a chocolate macaron, for good measure. I decorated some of the strawberries with chocolate ganache and although I cut most of the strawberries in half I left a couple whole, as they look lovely on top.

Obviously you don't need to be making a big fancy dessert to try this ladyfinger recipe, they are an utter joy to eat, they are dreamily light and fluffy and very simple to make.

I had no idea I liked ladyfingers so much, I've probably had one to many bad ones and didn't give them a second though. I will definitely be making these again.

1. Preheat the oven to 170C / 340F. Sift together the flour and cornflour. Separate the egg whites from the yolks.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with half of the sugar until pale. In another large dry bowl, with a clean whisk, bring the egg whites to a foam. Once they are white and frothy, add the remaining half of the sugar and continue to whip until firm.

3. Immediately fold the sugar and egg yolk mixture into the whipped egg whites with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the sifted flours over the mixture. Gently combine: start with the spatula in the centre of the bowl, work up the sides of the bowl and bring the mixture back down towards the centre, all the while turning the bowl regularly. Continue until you have a smooth and homogenous mixture.

If you are making ladyfinger rounds: Draw two circles, your desired size onto parchment paper, turn over the paper and pipe in a spiral, working inwards and starting about 1cm from the circles edge, the mixture will spread.

5. Using a fine mesh sieve or sifter, sprinkle half the confectioners sugar over the piped batter. Allow to rest for 10 minutes and dust the tops again with the remaining icing sugar. Immediately place the sheet in the oven and bake for approx. 15 minutes, until the ladyfingers are lightly coloured. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

I baked my ladyfinger rounds for around 20 minutes but this will obviously depend on their size.

I halved the recipe below and folded the cooled Crème Pâtissière into equal amounts of whipped cream, before piping it onto my ladyfinger rounds.

Crème Pâtissière

6 medium egg yolks

125g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) caster sugar

40g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour

500ml (2 cups) milk

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

A little confectioners' sugar or butter

Step 1: Whisk the egg yolks and 1/3 of the sugar together in a bowl to a light ribbon consistency. Whisk in the flour thoroughly.

Step 2: In a pan, heat the milk with the rest of the sugar and the vanilla bean. As soon as it comes to a boil, pour it onto the egg yolk mixture, stirring as you go. Mix well, then return the mixture to the pan.

Step 3: Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously with the whisk. Let bubble for 2 minutes, then pour into a bowl.

Step 4: Dust the crème pâtissière with a veil of confectioners' sugar to prevent a skin forming as it cools, or dot small flakes of butter all over the surface. Once cold, it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Remove the vanilla bean before using.

Friday, 11 March 2011

I'm a massive sweet and salty fan and I adore the amazing book Baked Explorations so I was bound to be crazy for these glorious caramel filled brownies.

This recipe is described in the book as follows:

'It is brownie as fetish. The Sweet & Salty Brownie is the Baked brownie in extreme, a decadence on par with other, more well known (and perhaps more respected) desserts...The caramel taste is more of a hint and less of an explosion, befitting this elegant dessert; the result is a fudgey-chocolatey-caramely brownie.'

The Baked boys go on to say that this is their most requested recipe and that doesn't surprise me, this is brownie deliciousness on steroids. The caramel is glorious and the actual brownie extremely chocolatey, I adore the salty topping but left some plain as I rightly assumed hubby wouldn't. It was great to compare the two and the added salt definitely brings out the fantastic taste of the salted caramel filling.

If you love brownies you have to try this recipe, this is brownies at their most epic!

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and corn syrup with 1/4 cup water, stirring them together carefully so you don’t splash the sides of the pan. Cook over high heat until an instant-read thermometer reads 350F (175 C), or until the mixture is dark amber in colour, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat, and slowly add the cream (careful, it will bubble up) and then the fleur de sel. Whisk in the sour cream. Set aside to cool.

For the brownie :

Preheat the oven to 350F (175′C).

Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light coloured metal 9 x 13 inch pan. Line the bottom with a sheet of parchment paper, and butter the parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder.

Place the chocolate and butter in the bowl of the double boiler set over a pan of simmering water, and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water of the double boiler, and add both sugars. Whisk until completely combined and remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be at room temperature.

Add three eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until just combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not over beat the batter at this stage, or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate. Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until there is a just a trace amount of the flour mixture visible.

To assemble the brownie :

Pour half of the brownie mixture into the pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Drizzle about 3/4 cup of the caramel sauce over the brownie layer in a zigzag pattern, taking care to make sure the caramel does not come in contact with the edges of the pan or it will burn. Use your offset spatula to spread the caramel evenly across the brownie layer. In heaping spoonfuls, scoop the rest of the brownie batter over the caramel layer. Smooth the brownie batter gently to cover the caramel layer.

Bake the brownies for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, and check to make sure the brownies are completely done by sticking a toothpick into the center of the pan. The brownies are done when the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Remove the brownies from the oven and sprinkle with an extra 1 1/2 teaspoons fleur de sel and 1 teaspoon coarse sugar.

Astral De La Mare

Welcome to The Extraordinary Art of Cake.

This blog is an expression of my love of all things cake, it is a sugary, cake packed, frosting centric blog, full of my cute fondant characters and creations, delicious recipes, baking tips and tricks, tutorials, loads of sugarcraft, lots of chat about frosting and of course lots and lots of cupcakes.